Ferrari: biography

The world famous Italian sports car manufacturer was founded in 1929, by Enzo Ferrari in the Italian city of Maranello. Ferrari cars are renowned the world over, easily recognizable from their distinctive colour 'Ferrari Red' and the companies symbol, the Prancing Horse.

Beginnings

The company, originally named Scuderia Ferrari (Scudaria meaning 'Stable' in Italian), began sponsoring drivers in Italian motor racing circuits. At this time, Enzo Ferrari, the company's director did not consider the company to be a manufacturer of cars - Ferrari did not begin making specially designed race cars until 1940, and up until this point simply prepared drivers for races, often working with Alfa Romeo, whom Enzo Ferrari had been employed with.
In 1943, Ferrari moved into it's Maranello head quarters, only for the factory to be bombed during World War II a year later. The factory was restored in 1946, and the company has remained there ever since.
The first Ferrari road car, the 125 S, rolled off the production line in 1947. The Ferrari F40 was the last car whose production was to be over seen by Enzo Ferrari, who died a year later.

Racing Career

With its beginnings strongly routed in motor sport racing, Ferrari has competed in many different sporting events - the most successful of these being the Ferrari F1 team which has the distinction of being the only team to have competed in every Formula 1 Championship since it's debut in 1950. Ferrari are also the most succesful teams in the motor sports history, with 15 World Drivers Championship titles and 209 Grand Prix victories.

Production Cars

It has been reported several times that Enzo Ferrari was reluctant to produce road going cars, but conceded to doing so as a means of supporting the growing Ferrari motor sports teams.
In 1949, two years after the production of Ferrari's first road going car, the
125 S, the company produced its first Grand Touring car, the 166 Inter. This was a wise decision for the company, as touring cars now make up over 50% of the companies total annual sales.
In 1962, Ferrari produced the 250 GTO, which is considered to be the companies first venture into the 'super-car' market, i.e. high performance sports cars. Some of the companies most iconic and desirable models have featured in this range, such as the F430 and the F50.
In 2007 a rare Ferarri Testa Rossa (often considered one of the most desirable Ferrari models) was auctioned off for a then record breaking $12.8 million.
In 2002, Ferrari produced its most powerful and expensive production car to date, the Ferrari Enzo, a tribute to its founder.